Good News for Fielder....Bad for Braun?

[imblotto]

Braun moving to cleanup spot:

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080310&content_id=2417751&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil

[BillyHallDisciple]

Yeah, it's always unfortunate when a player gets moved to the clean-up spot.

[imblotto]

Just looking for some informative insight to this, not sarcasm.

[BillyHallDisciple]

ust looking for some informative insight to this, not sarcasm.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[hwiggen]

I owned Braun last year and his numbers did seem to suffer a bit when he was batting 4th.
It 'seemed' that way but I don't have any stats to back that up. IMO Braun is better with Prince hitting behind him.
Taking Brauns speed into consideration, I don't know why the Brewers want Fielder batting 3rd.

[imblotto]

I owned Braun last year and his numbers did seem to suffer a bit when he was batting 4th.
It 'seemed' that way but I don't have any stats to back that up. IMO Braun is better with Prince hitting behind him.
Taking Brauns speed into consideration, I don't know why the Brewers want Fielder batting 3rd.

I actually believe he'll get more opportunities to steal hitting after Prince. It doesn't make sense to get a guy thrown out with Fielder up.

[boston_massacre]

I doubt it will make a world of difference. On the one hand, he losing the protection of Fielder. On the other hand, he probably won't be faced with too many situations where he'll be pitched around...the rest of that lineup is not full of complete bums. Fielder had protection behind him last year. I wouldn't worry too much.

[Secret Avatar]

Surprising move by the Brew Crew given that Braun did not hit well in the 4-hole last season. Not a lot of at-bats at cleanup, to be sure, but then he doesn't have a lot of at-bats in any event. I suspect Prince & the Revolution will be hitting cleanup again by May.

[interchange]

There's not enough sample size to make real conclusions about Braun's lack of performance in the cleanup spot last year.

I wonder if his speed come into play hitting 4th. If no one's on base, I wouldn't want to give up 2 bases to him. Not that he's a given to steal, but it is something to think about in tight situations. Even so, this probably does mean less baserunning for him.

[tmlfan4ever]

1, 3 and 4 are the most valuable spots in fantasy baseball. Hitting cleanup will cause an obvious bump in RBI opportunities, but could affect his runs (if no one can get him in) and some SB opportunities. As a whole, it should be a wash.